R32 (New York City Subway car) - RollOverTheFloor
The R32 is a New York City Subway car model built in 1964–65 by the Budd Company in Philadelphia for the IND/BMT B Division. These cars were the first mass-produced stainless steel cars built for the New York City Subway. The two previous Budd orders, the BMT Zephyr and the R11 contract, were limited production orders. Their horizontally ribbed, shiny, and unpainted stainless exteriors earned the cars the nickname Brightliners. The R32s are numbered 3350–3949 and were also the first to introduce flipdot electronic route signs and destination roll side signages instead of the former cotton cloth or linen type rollsigns found on all older cars. History Delivery The R32 contract was paid for out of the 1963–64 New York City capital budget. In 1963, the New York City Transit Authority contracted with Budd for 600 IND/BMT cars to replace older equipment, including the BMT D-type Triplex articulated cars and some of the BMT Standards. Budd had bid on previous contracts with the NYCTA, but had never won a City contract for a production run of cars until the R32s, as Budd built only stainless-steel equipment and the TA refused to allow a differential in competitive bids for this higher-quality construction. Budd won the contract by offering the lowest bid of $117,000 per car. Budd low-balled the price to win the contract and introduce stainless steel equipment to the modern New York City subway system, a plan that was met with limited success. NYCTA allowed a premium for subsequent stainless steel contracts, and all subsequent equipment was at least partly constructed of stainless steel. However, the Budd Company never benefited from the change, as Budd failed to win further contracts from the NYCTA, and the company has since halted production of railroad cars. A ceremonial introduction trip for the new R32 "Brightliners" cars was held on September 9, 1964, operating from the New York Central Railroad's Mott Haven Yards in the Bronx to Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan. The new cars were then placed into service on September 14, 1964, after their New York Central's spring-loaded under-running third rail shoes were replaced with gravity-type overrunning subway third rail shoes. Initial plans for retirement and preservation The R160s replaced most of the R32s in the late 2000s. They were intended to replace the entire fleet, but this has been halted due to structural issues found on the R44s that led to those cars' retirement. R32 cars 3530-3949 have all been retired after late 2008 and reefed. The remaining 240 active cars are maintained and inspected at the 207th Street Shop, typically running on the A'. Prolonged service The remaining 240 cars had undergone SMS (Scheduled Maintenance System) or a Life Extension Program, at a cost of $25 million, to extend their useful lives through at least 2017. They were expected to be fully replaced by the R179 fleet beginning in 2016; however, as of July 2015, the MTA plans to keep an unspecified number of R32s in service until at least 2022 due to more delays in the delivery of the R179 replacement cars, along with a previously unanticipated fleet expansion necessitated by the renovation of the 'L train's East River tube that carries it between Manhattan and Brooklyn. At 52 years old (the longest for an R-type car), the R32s are the oldest New York City Subway cars in regular passenger service, well past the specified service life of 35 years, as well as some of the oldest rolling stock of any metro system anywhere in the world. According to railfan James Greller, they often cited for their superior durability and craftsmanship. They are also the only cars currently in service that were built for the New York City Transit Authority prior to its merger with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 1968. Four other car types built after them have been mostly or completely retired. Since 2010, all Straphangers Campaign surveys found the R32s have the lowest Mean Distance Between Failures figures, but the MTA's own measure statics of each subway car present show the R32s' Mean Distance Between Failures have gradually been getting higher as years pass; as of July 2016, they still generally perform below under nearly half of the average distance subway cars go without breaking down, however. The R32s have been criticized for their appearance and lack of comfort. In August 2012, the New York Times called the R32s "a dreary reminder to passengers of an earlier subterranean era," and said that "time has taken a toll" on the cars. In July 2015, several criticized the high rate of repairs the R32s required due to mechanical breakdowns of power failure mainly caused by high mileage, citing its presently designated route assignment - the A, which, at 32 miles and 51 kilometers, is the longest subway route in the entire system. In popular culture The cars in the 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV are based on both R32 and R38 fleets. All cars in the game are heavily vandalized with graffiti. A train of R32s was featured in the 2015 film Bridge of Spies, despite the fact that the film is set a decade prior to their manufacture. They were the oldest available rolling stock to form a realistic 10-car train for exterior filming. Interior shots were done with a more period-appropriate R11/R34 from the New York Transit Museum.